Gov. Ron DeSantis is defending U.S. military action against Venezuelan assets, as President Donald Trump’s administration escalates it.
While DeSantis was not asked about the breaking news of an American seizure of an oil tanker, he does support action against what he calls “narco-terrorists” in the form of at least 20 attacks against boats from the country since September.
“I think that the U.S. has a right to treat it and engage it as a military threat, simply because we’ve seen over the last 10, 20 years, the amount of people that have been killed by cartels bringing drugs in to our country,” DeSantis said at Good Greek Moving & Storage West Palm Beach.
The Governor said “the cartels have been able to move this product in with impunity for a long time.”
Regarding other actions beyond attacks on boats with suspected drug traffickers, DeSantis said he hadn’t been briefed, before again affirming his support of the attacks on boats with contraband.
“I do think the threshold question of ‘Is it appropriate to say that somebody trying to enter your country with drugs that obviously can be deadly for people, do you have a right as Commander-in-Chief to repel that incursion in your country?’ And the answer to that is yes.”
DeSantis has consistently called for the U.S. to take a firm hand against Venezuela, and he’s giving no indication of softening his stance.
